Instant Messaging Makes Move On Commenting

Is the Google Talkchatback widget/badge/gizmo a taste of things to come? Commenting is something that lots of people think is necessary on a blog, for it to be a blog. However, IM is something everybody understands, and isn’t that a preferred way to communicate with the blogger who’s post you just read and find widely entertaining/offensive, or just easy to react to?

– IM him then. Tell him off.
– He’s not on my list!
– Do it on his blog.
– How?
– With the Google Talk badge, stupid!

Should IM integration into blogs be seen as a way to move the conversation from the blog comments, to direct communication with the bloggers, and is that a good thing?

Personally, I don’t want to blow the doomsday horn for comments on blogs. IM and comments are two different things, the latter being a way for a public discussion where others than the writer and original commenter can pitch in. However, should direct IM functionality be common on blogs, it surely would mean less comments, since a lot of questions – which may seem direct enough when asking them – would be an asset in the comments, if nothing else so for the fact that the answer would be available for all, meaning that less people would have to ask.

I won’t put a Google Talk badge on my blog. Don’t annoy me with direct questions, that’s my take. My time is valuable. Others might view it a different way.

What do you think? Direct IM on blogs, what impact will it have, and would you consider enabling it yourself? Or use it?

Reader-writing interaction through comments is one thing, but this seems a bit too far. For popular blogs, every time you checked gmail, you’d be inundated with IMs, on top of an already bulging inbox. Yuck.

I am not a fan of my time being a slave to im, unless it has special meaning. (I im in a chat room all day long as a futures trader and it is great for sharing.) I prefer the comments format for my online web businesses as it allows me to interact at my convenience.

I think it really depends on what you want to do. Personally I think ChatBack tools like “http://www.hab.la” or Google’s chatback are great, but sometimes you want people to add ‘comments’ or forum posts to your site to build a community. On the other hand if your trying to sell a product, or want to build ‘relationships’ direct chat works really well.

BTW, http://Hab.la is a pretty nice alternative to Google’s Chatback that works in any Jabber client, as opposed to just Gtalk.